2012 NHL Trade Deadline

Seeing the Ottawa Senators sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference with less than a week to go until the trade deadline is a major surprise. How they handle the next few days also could be a surprise.

"I don't know that we're doing anything," Senators general manager Bryan Murray told reporters when asked about his plans heading into the Feb. 27 trade deadline. "A lot of managers seem to be like me -- they're not sure what they want to do. They're in the race but they're not convinced if they're going to be around, so we're all trying to be somewhat cautious."

The Senators enter Tuesday seventh in the East with 70 points, but they're just two points behind fourth-place New Jersey.

Ottawa has hung around the top eight in the conference for most of the season, and after a seven-game winless skid around the All-Star break, they've rebounded to win four of their last five and three straight.

Murray said he'd like to add depth to his team, but wouldn't go into detail as to what area of his club he'd like to add it to. He said he's not actively working on anything, but said he's had phone calls with numerous teams.

"I've talked to a couple teams that look like they're ready to trade people away and asked for a particular name," he said. "And in turn I've had calls were we've talked about, could we get this guy or that guy, what the price would be. I can't be really definite because there's nothing definite I could get."

Murray said ideally he'd make a deal similar to the one he made in December with Phoenix for center Kyle Turris.

"That's the kind of trade we'd like to make," said Murray. "If we can get a younger play coming in that can help us now but has a good future going forward, that's the type of thing I'd much like to do more than trade a younger player for an older guy that's unrestricted that you'll really have a hard time re-signing."

One name that Murray has heard mentioned in trade rumors is defenseman Filip Kuba, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but Murray was quick to squash any talk of him moving the veteran blueliner. Kuba has 22 points and a team-best plus-18 rating while playing 23:30 per game.

"I think he's one of our best defensemen, if not our most steady guy at this point in time," said Murray. "He's played penalty kill, power play, he's been Erik Karlsson's partner. He plays a lot of minutes, has great respect on the team. I'm not sure why his name has ever come up. At this point in time … unless I got something awfully, awfully good, it would do us no service to not keep him here."

Contact Adam Kimelman at akimelman@nhl.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

The Wings acquired defenseman Kyle Quincey from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday in a three-way trade. The Lightning, run by former Wings star Steve Yzerman, acquired Quincey from Colorado earlier in the day for forward Steve Downie, then shipped him to Detroit for the Wings' first-round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft and minor-league defenseman Sebastien Piche.

Quincey, 26, is expected to be in the lineup Thursday when the Wings take their NHL-record 23-game home winning streak into a matchup against the Vancouver Canucks.

"We like the addition of Quincey," general manager Ken Holland told the Detroit Free Press. "He's a guy who can play 20 minutes a night, he can play right defense, left defense, he can play in all situations. He can man a point on the second power-play unit. We believe this makes us deeper for the playoffs, and he's not a rental."

Quincey is returning to the team with which he began his NHL career. The Wings took him with the 132nd pick in the 2003 NHL Draft. He saw limited playing time and was lost on waivers to Los Angeles before the 2008-09 season The Kings traded him to Colorado in July 2010 as part of the package that sent Ryan Smyth to Edmonton.

The 6-foot-2, 202-pounder had five goals and 18 assists in 54 games with the Avs this season after missing most of last season with a shoulder injury.

The Wings have been looking for more toughness on the blue line. They signed veteran Mike Commodore last summer, but he hasn't been able to earn a regular berth. Rookie Jakub Kindl got off to a good start but has struggled during the past month.

It was the third trade in less than a week by the Lightning, who dealt center Dominic Moore to San Jose on Thursday and sent defenseman Pavel Kubina to Philadelphia.

Downie, 24, can become a restricted free agent this summer. He's in the final year of a two-year, $3.7 million deal and has 12 goals, 16 assists and 121 penalty minutes in 55 games this season.

"Our organization believes that Steve Downie will add grit and skill to our lineup offensively," Avalanche GM Greg Sherman said in a statement. "He plays the game with an edge and we look forward to seeing the immediate and future impact he can bring to our team."

The Lightning now have two first-round picks in 2012 along with a minimum of three selections in the second round.

Piche, 6-foot, 202 pounds, has played in 42 career AHL games with the Grand Rapids Griffins, recording five assists. This season he has played in 22 games, notching three assists. Piche signed with the Red Wings as a free agent on April 12, 2009.

For the third straight game, a top Blue Jackets executive is here in Philadelphia. General manager Scott Howson was in attendance last Saturday for the Flyers-Rangers game and had two long conversations with Flyers GM Paul Holmgren. Blue Jackets senior advisor Craig Patrick was here for Thursday for a game against the Buffalo Sabres, and today both Howson and Patrick are here. Howson again spent time talking with Holmgren prior to the game.

Sources tell CSNPhilly.com's Tim Panaccio that the Flyers are listening and having serious discussions about the cost of acquiring Nash. Panaccio speculates that cost could be high.

"As for the asking price for a player of Nash’s caliber? Probably Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn,” Panaccio wrote. “But … it may be something else. It may be James van Riemsdyk, another player, plus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Or a high draft pick besides a player. The Flyers don't want to move Couturier or Schenn, but if I'm Howson, I want both those players."

Panaccio reports his source tells him the Flyers are more interested in adding another defenseman, like they did Thursday when they acquired Nicklas Grossman from the Dallas Stars. However, when asked if it was "unlikely" he'd go after a star player, Holmgren paused, and replied: "Unlikely? I don't know if I'd use that word, but probably not something that we're talking about at length."

Contact Adam Kimelman at akimelman@nhl.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

O’Marra played seven games for the Oilers this season, and has one goal and seven points in 31 career NHL games. He was a first-round pick by the New York Islanders in the 2005 Entry Draft.

Rodney has spent the entire 2011-12 season with Syracuse in the American Hockey League. He has five goals and 20 points in 41 games for the Crunch this season. Rodney has one goal and 13 points in 33 career NHL games – all with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are holding defenseman Pavel Kubina out of the lineup, and he’s been asked which teams he would be willing to accept a trade to, the team announced Thursday.

Kubina is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and he has a limited no-trade clause. General manager Steve Yzerman told reporters Thursday morning that a trade is not imminent, but Kubina will be scratched from the lineup for the time being.

A 34-year-old defenseman, Kubina has three goals and 11 points for the Lightning this season. He’s in the second of a two-year contract that carries a $3.8 million cap hit. Kubina has played parts of 14 seasons in the NHL and has 953 career games on his resume. He also won the Stanley Cup in 2004 with the Lightning.

Tampa Bay is currently in 13th place in the Eastern Conference and 10 points out of a spot in the top eight. The Lightning recently had a 6-0-1 stretch that offered a glimmer of hope, but they’ve lost four of five since then.

Yzerman told Damian Cristodero of the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday that he was prepared to make moves for the future.

“We have to look at any opportunity that makes us a stronger organization moving forward based on where we stand today," Yzerman said to Cristodero.

“We're not going to just give our guys away. But if there is an opportunity that makes us a better organization, we're going to consider it.”

One of the biggest holes in the long-term future for the Lightning is the lack of a franchise goaltender. Dwayne Roloson was great last season but has struggled this campaign and is 42 years old, and there isn’t a top goaltending prospect in the system.

Yzerman told reporters Thursday not to expect a solution in the next 11 days though. He called the deadline a “time to replenish [organizational] depth, so prospects, draft choices are [the] priority,” according to Cristodero, and also said the goaltending quandary is “a likely summer project.”

But he says he might just do that if his situation does not change soon.

"Not yet," Kostitsyn said Wednesday when asked if he's requested a trade. "But we'll see in the next couple of games."

Kostitsyn just turned 27 on Feb. 3 and is playing out a contract that pays him $3.25 million. He scored 26 goals in his first full NHL season in 2007-08 but has never been able to match that total, though he topped the 20-goal mark in two of his previous three seasons.

He also brings a physical dimension to the game, topping 100 hits in each of the past four seasons and leading the Canadiens with 140 last season.

This season Kostitsyn has 12 goals and 12 assists in 47 games but he has hit a major dry spell with just 1 goal and 1 assist in his last eight games. Over his last four games, Kostitsyn's ice time has gone from 14:30 to 12:08 to 11:15 and finally to 4:20 on Monday.

"It's tough when you sit on the bench, you just (watch) the game. … You're freezing on the bench," Kostitsyn said. "I can't do anything in four minutes. If he gives me more ice time, I can show how I can play."

"He" is Canadiens coach Randy Cunneyworth, who explained the reason Kostitsyn was benched Monday night was because he committed turnovers on three consecutive shifts.

"The coach is probably thinking I'm the one guy on the team that (commits) turnovers or loses the puck," Kostitsyn said. "That's why maybe he put me on the bench."

Cunneyworth said he wants Kostitsyn and his center Scott Gomez to "play the right way" if they want to earn more ice time.

"I understand what he wants," Kostitsyn said. "He wants us to chip the puck and put the puck behind the defensemen and play in their zone. I tried to do that last game, but I still stayed on the bench. Nothing different."

Cunneyworth would not confirm whether Kostitsyn or Gomez would suit up for Wednesday night's game against the Boston Bruins.

The Edmonton Oilers might have some trades to make in the next couple of weeks, but veteran forward Ryan Smyth will not be a part of them.

Smyth met Wednesday with Oilers GM Steve Tambellini, according to several reporters in Edmonton, and made sure it was known that he doesn’t want to go anywhere.

"It was nice to clear the air and settle everything. I'm staying put," Smyth said, according the team’s official Twitter feed. "I came back (to the Oilers) for a reason. As a family, we're happy here and I love being an Oiler. Family is the most important thing."

Added Tambellini: "I have no plans to move Ryan Smyth. Ryan has made it clear that he wants to stay here and play for the Oilers."

Smyth, who turns 36 next week, has a no-movement clause and can be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. He returned to Edmonton this past summer in a trade from Los Angeles after spending two seasons with the Kings, two in Colorado and part of one with the New York Islanders.

Before that, Smyth played his first 11 seasons with Edmonton, and collected four 30-goal seasons before leaving the first time. He has 16 goals and 36 points this season, and has proven to be a valuable mentor to the team’s emerging stars.

"My ultimate goal is to sign a new contract with the Oilers, ideally before the trade deadline," Smyth told Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. "Yeah, I want that."

TSN is reporting New York Islanders forward PA Parenteau, who is fifth in the League with 39 assists, will table any talk of a contract extension until after the season.

"This contract is going to be my only big one left," Parenteau recently told Newsday. "I want to make sure I'll be paid at my value. Having said that, I love it here and I've said all along I'd love to stay here."

Parenteau, who signed a one-year, $1.25 million contract over the summer, is second on the team with 51 points, two shy of matching the career-best 53-point output he had last season.

Parenteau's agent, Allan Walsh, told TSN that while his client would rather focus on winning hockey games than talking contract, they would listen if the Islanders made a contract proposal between now and the end of the regular season. He added the goal is to have a deal in place before July 1.

"He's made it very clear from the outset that he's highly motivated to stay with the New York Islanders," Parenteau's agent, Allan Walsh told TSN.ca via e-mail. "The Islanders gave him his first real opportunity to thrive in the NHL, he has a fantastic relationship with his teammates, the coaches, (GM) Garth Snow and the fans. Most importantly, PA sees the Islanders trending up and believes they will be a contending team for many years to come.

"With that being said, the Islanders are currently six points out of a playoff spot. Now is the time to play hockey, not to discuss or focus on contracts. When the season is over, I'm sure both parties will work diligently towards an agreement that will insure a mutual long term commitment to one another."

Contact Adam Kimelman at akimelman@nhl.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

Minnesota Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher on Wednesday told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the club has not asked defenseman Marek Zidlicky to waive his no-trade clause for any specific trade.

The newspaper, along with TSN, reported earlier Wednesday morning that Zidlicky had waived his no-trade clause so the Wild could send him to the New Jersey Devils.

"I haven't asked Zid to waive his no-trade for any specific trade," Fletcher told the newspaper's Mike Russo. "I haven't called him and said anything's close. I can tell you for sure I'm planning on talking to other teams. We haven't traded Zid, we haven't made the decision to trade Zid at this point. I have not formally asked him to do anything because at this point I honestly don't have anything to take to him, I don't have anything for him to say yes or no to."

Fletcher said a deal with New Jersey for Zidlicky could still happen anytime between now and the Feb. 27 deadline, but he just as likely could move Zidlicky to another team, or hold onto him and move him over the summer, or wait even longer.

"Maybe he's here next trade deadline and we're having the same conversation," Fletcher said.

The 35-year-old Zidlicky reportedly has been unhappy with how he's been used by first-year coach Mike Yeo, including being a healthy scratch four straight games between Jan. 21 and Feb. 2. According to the Star Tribune, after the third benching, Jan. 31, Zidlicky told Fletcher he would waive his no-trade clause for a move to the right team.

In 39 games this season, Zidlicky has no goals, 13 assists and a minus-7 rating. He has one year and $4 million remaining on his contract.

The Devils certainly could use a player with Zidlicky's skill set. While he doesn't have any goals this season, 42 of the 60 he's scored in his eight NHL seasons have been on the power play. In the absence of Henrik Tallinder and Adam Larsson, the Devils' power play has slipped to 17th in the NHL at 17.0 percent.

Contact Adam Kimelman at akimelman@nhl.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

He's only 17 but he can see the ice so well and he moves the puck and goes to the open ice all the time, so I just think he's a player that is ready to play in the NHL. I'm really looking forward to coaching someone like this.

— U.S. National Junior Team coach Ron Wilson on Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft